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Part 35: X-COM SOLDIER BRIEFING for May 31 - COLONEL CLEARANCE LEVEL

X-COM SOLDIER BRIEFING for May 31 - COLONEL CLEARANCE LEVEL

Our scientists have nearly reached the conclusion of our laser weapons research, resulting in the laser cannon. Unfortunately, the laser cannon has very poor range and damage when compared to the plasma beam, and will not be used. The laser simply loses coherence over too short a distance. A stationary laser battery has been proposed as a means of defense for our bases, but we again believe a plasma version would be far more effective.

The full nature and capabilities of the Floater Abductor class ship has been examined, with no practical use found for X-COM.

On the other hand, we have completed our analysis of human built-UFOs. We now know that alien UFO can travel at faster-than-light speeds, utilizing powerful gravity waves to bend space-time. We believe the theoretical top speed of this engine to be around 80c. Smaller ships can travel faster, while large ships can barely break the FTL barrier.

In addition to designing a faster and more powerful Interceptor, we believe we can downscale our design into a new generation of tank. Based off the Cyberdisk, we are currently designing a remote-control "Hovertank" with mounted plasma weapon. There have been many arguments over whether or not the new tank should be remote controlled, or fully robotic with onboard AI. Despite having a senior researcher leave the X-COM project in protest, I believe the flexibility a human operator provides is sufficient. Designing an AI program is not the best use of our efforts right now if it is not needed.

Our recent success of destroying the Snakeman base has pleased our funding nations more than the loss of Japan has scared them. All participating nations have increased their funding.

Our ten strongest Psi soldiers have now advanced in their skill to the point where there is a good chance of psionic attacks succeeding. On your next mission all capable soldiers are advised to test their psionic powers as much as possible.

X-COM Head Scientist,
Dr. Reis Markus

SELECTED FAN ENTRIES BELOW

Allen Wren posted:

Experiment OneAn experiment was carried out to observe the effect of words on paper. First, a quantity of notebook paper was appropriated from the stores, and had an appropriately inane statement appended to it.

code:

The paper is placed in the bottom of this filing cabinet, which is then locked, and then we leave the room, passing the time with a refreshing beverage of some sort, possibly with a snack. A half-hour passes. Unlocking the office and cabinet, we find that absolutely nothing has happened to the paper. We continue the experiment by adding a second entry to this diary.

code:

Pvt. Wren's Experimental Diary, Entry 2

We add another equally inane statement, however, this particular statement will be a falsehood.

code:

Private Wren makes mad, passionate love to Dr. Takakumi every night.

The lights have begun to flicker ominously, but the experiment will be completed. Science does not tolerate interruptions. The paper is placed back in the cabinet, and again, we leave the room. The office door is barely closed, however, before a violent racket occurs. Rushing back into the office, we find that the filing cabinet has indeed exploded, flinging papers, drawers and suchlike items in all directions, all of which is now covered with a reddish substance. When we poke at it with a pencil, we find that it has a jelly like consistency. This is what is called ectoplasm, which can be found on the Periodic Table under the symbol Ek, because the ancient Greeks invented the Periodic Table before inventing the dictionary. The presence of ectoplasm raises suspicions which are confirmed when the original piece of notebook paper is brought up from the bottom drawer.

code:

As you can see, the majority of the original message has been burnt off, though with the frost that clings to the surface of the paper, you can tell it is quite cold. Such temperature variations are traditionally the domain of wizards, or occasionally aliens. However, combined with the ectoplasm, we are left to conclude that we are dealing with ghosts---and not very friendly ones at that. Additionally, a message has been appended to what survives of the paper in what appears to be a more highly-condensed form of ectoplasm:

code:

WREN WILL SUFFER AND DIE

For safety and security reasons, the paper is shredded, then discarded.

From the results of this experiment, we can conclude two things. First, ghosts are attracted to lies. Secondly, as we close the door to Dr. Markus' workspace, we reiterate: never use your own office for a scientific experiment.

Write that down in your copybook now.

wtfuguyz posted:

Initial Notes on the bizzare Early Light occurances, by Agent Walter Terrance Fuguyz.

Experimental "Accident" : Possibly related to the inexplicable phenomena? Will need to interview Wren. Employ extreme persuasion techniques if he proves intractible. If this is in any way attached to the Chryssalid incidents, I can't risk that happening again here.

I have investigated Ms. Takakumi, and have found that she is normal. Well, she's far from normal, possibly a security risk, and somehow tied to these strange events, but she's -

"Goddamnit. This is like the sixth time i've tried to type up these notes, and the sixth time the computer has shorted out." Walter grabbed a pad of paper and began to scribble down his notes.

Interview Wren about accident - related to phenomena or chryssalids?

Ask Xander about getting cleared for new Chryssalid data and Psi-Amp program.

Fire alarm klaxons blared in the room, light bulbs suddenely exploded, and the sprinkler systems went off all over the place, leaving Walter and his notes soaked. Walter fumbled around in the dark, found the door, and walked out on to the balcony of the embassy to light a cigarette. Those, too, were soaked.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he asked himself. "Somehow this followed me back to the Embassy from the X-Com base. If.... Son of a Bitch!" Walter ran back into his room, grabbed the hardline, and pulled it out of his computer. The alarms and sprinklers suddenly stopped. A fresh-faced MP opened the door, and looked in with a bit of shock. "You OK, sir?"
"I'm fine. Just a malfunction of some kind."
"Hell of a malfunction, sir."
"Tell me about it. Where do we keep the lightbulbs around here?"
"Wel, sir-"
"Just Walter will be fine."
"Well, Walter, we're out. We should have a new shipment coming in tommorow."
Walter sighed. "Alright. You have any smokes? Mine are soaked."
"I don't smoke si- Walter."
"Ok. I'm going down to the lobby for a while. A very long while."
"You drink, Walter?"
"No. Stuff tastes like piss and goes right through me."
"Ah, well, the gunny and I got some drambouie, stuff actually tastes kind of sweet and she's a real lewd drunk. You want to join us and a few other off-duty folks in the cafeteria anyway? We're going to get trashed, play poker and watch that weird funny German english language show with the penis spaceship in an hour or so."
"Sure. Let me dry off and change my clothes first."
"Alright, see you there after I finish my rounds."

Walter waited for the young man to leave, went into the bathroom, and dried off. "I'm going to figure out what exactly is going on here."He grabbed a receipt from his wastebin, and scribbled : Interview Wren re: accident. Talk to Otto about psiamps and bug info. Dr. Takakumi - linked to the incidents at early light somehow. Had to override the computers at the base when I tried to find info on her. She's tied to this somehow. So far, all these incidents have involved -

The Receipt was full of his tiny notes. He grabbed another receipt and wrote #2, Computer or mechanical systems in some way or another. Is there some kind of Alien AI or virus at work here? Why would it be tied to Dr. T? What happened around the time this started? Any sort of info would be good.

Also, ask Otto about the incidents at early light and warn him about what happened here tonight. Contact all other foregin embassy X-COM liasons about the potential threat.

He put the notes in his new, dry pants pockets, looked in the mirror, and said "I've got a horribly sick feeling about all this." He stood there and stared for a few minutes before going down to the cafeteria to try and take his mind of all this shit for a while, and perhaps get some sleep on one of those really soft lounge chairs they just got.

He ended drinking up half the bottle of Drambouie and losing 300$ to the Gunny Seargent.

As I was saying earlier, if I start intruding too much into the metaplot (Guava) or other characters' (Fellow X-COM RPers) storylines at any time, let me know and I'll change it.

Dexanth posted:

Audio Log, L. Takakumi, 6/1/99

Lily: Allen, come here, I need you to look at something for me!

What? No, it's nothing bad. I just wanted you to tell me if I look fat! (Something inaudible from off-speaker) No, I'm not going to make you test out my improved armor yet, there's still too high of a risk of it exploding! Though that won't stop me from asking Dr. Markus to do so, it'd be win win success or failure!

Anyways, answer the question!

Allen: Fat? Er, well, that's to say, I can't quite tell everywhere thanks to the lab coat, but I wouldn't call you exactly fat, no. Maybe a bit round in the tummy area - But here, I want you to check the results of my latest experiment! I've got the copybook right here!

Lily: Experiment? Since when did you...(Laughter) Oh, my, Allen, you didn't! Oh, that's utterly hilarious! I must say, (More laughter) That's to say, your results seem valid, but proper science always replicates their experiments, so I think it's important you test this at least two more times under identical conditions, are as near as you can get.

And I didn't know you felt that way about me either, that's...well, a bit creepy, actually, except I know you've had a crush on me since forever, and by now I find it cute. You'd want to leave that part out of your...hehe, your 'Copybook' next time though, my mood is a bit swingy these days.

Adverts by Project Wonderful

Hey, adverts can be pretty annoying, right? I know how it is; I don't like it when I'm browsing a site and I accidentally trigger an awful flash ad where a big, freakish iPhone starts singing at me. That's why here on the Let's Play Archive we'll only ever serve up nice banners that behave properly.

The Archive is a personally-funded hobby, and without donation/advert revenue we won't be able to keep it going. Please, if you enjoy the site, consider adding us to your AdBlock whitelist—it really does make a difference.